Toy acrobat



C. F. WILSON TOY ACROBAT July 7, 1925.

- Filed April 11, 1923 C. Wilson.

Patented July 7, 1925.

CHRISTIAN F. WILSON, 0F FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA.

Application filed April 11, 1923. Serial No. 631,388.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN F. WILSON,

an acrobat turning somersaults and per-' forming sundry other acrobatic stunts on a cord suspended between two parallel bars.

The main object of the invention is to provide a toy of this character that is so constructed that the acrobat or manikin will always swing free of the side bars even if not held in Vertical position, and that the limbs will always turn freely, so as not to catch in each other or in the trunk of the manikin.

In the accompanying drawi one embodiment of. the invention is lllustrated, and- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the toy with the manikin suspended freely therein;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Fi re 3 is a partial front elevation showing t eupper part of Figure 1in larger scale and with the manikin supposed to be swung upwardly; and

Figure a is a partial vertical section along line 3-3 of Figure 2 with the trunk in inverted position corresponding to the arrangement shown in Figure 3. v

The toy consists of two parallel bars 10 of rectangular cross section and connected by a fulcrum block 11 at about one fourth of the length of the bars from the lower end thereof. Th'e'bars and the block are held together by means of screws or pins 12 placed in the center of the block, and the ends of the latter are. preferably slightly rounded or tbeveled as at 13 to ermit a slight roll of the bars thereon, as indicated in Figure 1.

The lower extension 14 of the bars .10

form handles of a suitable length to be carried in a persons hand. The extreme upper end of the bars are rforated as at 15 and 16 to form a pair 0 apertures situated one above the other in longitudinal direction of each bar. Through these aperf tures is threaded a piece of string or catgut, which is tied together as at 18 on the outer side of one of the bars 10, as seen in Figure 3, and on the part of the string 17 running through the upper apertures 16 are formed spaced knots constituting stops 19 at the same distance inwardly from the-respective bars 10.

The acrobat or manikin consists of a trunk or body portion 20'having a head 21 formed integrally therewith or rigidly secured thereon. This trunk 20 is of uniform thickness from the top to near its bottom where, however, it is tapered as best seen at 22 for a reason that will be explained later. At the portion of the trunk representing the shoulders the upper limbs or arms 23 are journaled on a short piece of string or wire. 24 knotted on the outside of the arms 23, as seen at 25, so as to permit free turning of the arms at the shoulders. The portion of the arms representing hands 26 are pierced in two places as at 27 and 28 to form aper tures for the operating string 17. These apertures are preferably spaced apart the same distance as the apertures 15 and 16 in the side bars 10 and are situated one above the other in the longitudinal direction of the arms 23. In assembling the arms between the bars, the toy is held inverted and the string threaded through the inner aperture 15 in one of the bars, then through the apertures 28 of both arms to the aperture 15 in the-opposite bar, thence through aperture 16 and apertures 27 in the arms and lastly through aperture 16 in the other bar and knotted on the outside thereof as at 18. In this manner, the operating string or cord 17jformsa rectangu ar loop, which when stretched permits outward displacement of the upper ends of the bars 10, so that the distance between them at this place is greater than at the handles 14. When assemblin the arms on a string in this manner, care as to be taken that the knots or stops 19 are situated between the arms, as seen in Fi ure 3, near the outer apertures 27.

At the ower end of the trunk the limbs forming the legs 29 are secured in the same manner as the arms 23, that is to say, by means of a short piece of string or wire 32 knotted at both sides as at 30 to hold the-legs loosely to-the body, so that they can turn around the wire. h at the joint are tapered as at 31 in the opposite direction to the taper 22 on the trunk.- In this mannerthe legs 29 will hang par: vallel, when the toy is held in u right position with the acrobat or mani in hanging down loosely, while when the trunk is in e inner side of the legs a verted as in Figure 4, the feet 33 of the ac robat will spread apart, so that they will straddle the shoulders of the manikin and downwards between the bars, as in Figure 1,

the distance between the hands 26 will be greater than the distance at the shoulders of the manikin.

The length of, the operating string 17 is such that it will permit the manikin to swingdown into the position shown in Figure 1 to be suspended from the string when the bars 10 are parallel and no pressure ex-- erted on the handles 14, in which case the operating string 17 is twisted One half turn, 1 re 1. When now a pressure as seen in Fi is' given by the hand onthe two handles 14,

the bars 10 will roll slightly "on the ends13" of the block 11 around theirifulcrum points formed by the screws or pins 12, so that the upper" ends of the bars will spread apart. 7

element being knottedto form. spaced stops In doing this the operating string17 istensioned and thetwist therein stretched out, so that the arms 23 will be swung upwards, as indicated in Figure 3, bringing the trunk of the acrobat with it. If a'quickpressure is exerted on the handles 14, the manikin will swing upwardly in extended position, but if a slow pressure is exerted, the trunk will turnat the shoulders and the legs 29 around their journal point on the string 3:2.

The fact that the legs and trunk 20 are tapered at the joint on the string 32 will compel the feet 33 to spread apart without catching anywhere on the trunk or arms of the manikin. On account of the knots 19 being symmetrically positioned between the "bars 10, the manikin will be compelled to swing centrally between the bars and for that reason neither the legs 29 nor the trunk 20 of the manikin can catch in the bars 10.

Having thus described the invention what .is claimed as new is:

arm members having their. outer ends normally divergin'gfand provided with upper and wer apertures, and an endless flexible 1 element threaded through the apertures in the side bars and arm members, said flexible disposed between-the diverging ends of the arms and bearing against the, inner faces thereof at the adjacent apertures therein for centering said arms on-the flexible element and holding the outer ends of said arms normally in diverging relation.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHRISTIAN F. WILSON. [1 8.] 

